Cemetery Summons Ch. 15

Jack awoke to a dull throb in his head, and splitting pain running between his ears like a current of electricity. He bit back a groan, knowing from experience that if he made any noise, he'd only upset his aching head. The incubus opened his eyes blearily, trying to blink away the drowsiness diminishing inside him already.

Beside him, something stirred slightly. He gazed at a reddish blur for the longest time, until he rubbed his eye with his knuckle and let out a silent yawn. That too hurt, but the throbbing was beginning to dissipate as the blood previously pooled in his head began to spread back through his body. After a scant few seconds of vertigo, he was upright and rubbing his eyes.

He gave examining the red thing a second try, and this time, he almost jumped in surprise. It was a little girl, hands on his knee to prop herself up as she leaned toward him, dazzled. The red on her was her fiery red hair and robe. Jack thought it amusing that she looked like a little red devil, even though she was so cute.

Wait, girl?

Where the hell was he? Where'd Anathane taken him that children would be? This certainly couldn't be hell, no, children didn't go to hell. Did they? He examined the girl, who couldn't have been more than four years old, and found that behind her robe were two red wings and a little red tail like his own white one.

"Mama!" the girl called, very shrilly. Jack's ears pounded like someone was crushing his head with an anvil. "The unicorn is awake!"

Unicorn? Wait, she was talking about him? Jack didn't care much as he soothed his pulsing head and massaged his temples. The little red girl threw on a hood and giggled giddily as she leapt away, arms outstretched like she was pretending to be an airplane, and ran off somewhere else. Jack closed his eyes for a few seconds as he dragged himself to his feet.

After a while, he regained his balance somewhat and searched the room for any sign of familiarity.

If he'd seen this place before, then he had been clubbed to death and resurrected without any memory of it. The place was nearly as large as a superbowl stadium and the ceiling looked at if it were miles above his head. The walls were painted in gold, or made of it, and glimmered in the light of an unknown source, spreading a gold hue all across the entirety of the place.

Out of the golden walls peered leering gargoyles, with long fangs and fire leaping from their mouths like lava that disappeared just before touching the floor. Their ruddy red eyes seemed to be staring into his soul, and their clawed hands and long teeth reaching for it hungrily.

Although the place was furnished with no furniture at all, a large pool of dark blue water ran from just a few feet away to the other end of the massive span of golden floor. Jack found the little girl running along the lip of the shallow pool, laughing merrily as she made airplane noises and entertained herself happily.

"He...hello? Who are you?" he called. She stopped and turned around, running back to him with her arms out to her sides still. When she reached him, she latched onto his leg and clambered up his body until she was resting on his shoulder, giggling again.

"I'm Limarei," she replied. She pointed one tiny finger toward the gigantic doorway at the opposite end of the golden room.

"I'm Jack. Hey, where are we?" he asked. She giggled.

"Silly! We're in Mama's house. Mama! Mama!" she called, hands cupped around her mouth to magnify her voice. Suddenly, the doors opened and a black shape appeared between them.

"Limarei, honey? Is...oh, he's awake." The black shape suddenly turned into a woman as she warped to Jack's immediate location. He stepped back, more out of surprise than anything else. He still wasn't used to people being able to do things instantly.

Before him stood a succubus, obviously so because of her black wings and tail, and lack of demonic horns. But she wasn't like the others. Her skin was charcoal-black, dark enough to put midnight to shame. Though her skin was so dark, her hair was a fiery scarlet, and it ran down her back and shoulders like a cascade of vibrant blood.

"I assume you're 'Mama'?" Jack said expectantly, removing Limarei from his back to hold the girl out to her mother. The succubus smiled gently, her deep grey lips parting.

"Thank you. You may call me Nyx, as many humans have before."

"Nyx! As in the goddess Nyx?" Jack stammered.

"Indeed. I assume that your name is not Unicorn like my daughter insists. You must be called Jack, am I right?" she purred, staring at him intently with eyes akin to endless dark voids. It took a conscious effort for him to draw his gaze away from them, and to keep it off her ridiculously well-endowed chest.

"Oh, yeah, my name's Jack. And him, over there," Jack motioned over to where Anthony lay. "That's Anthony. Anathane told me that you could help us."

"Of course. Niaf is one of my older friends, and Anathane as well. And I have much fondness for Fain and Elassa as well. I was told of your predicament before you awoke, and even though I did entertain the thought of killing you, I decided it best to give you my resources to help further your progress." She gave him a brief smile before Limarei leapt back onto him and wrapped herself around his shoulder.

"You're fun to play with!" she exclaimed happily.

"She seems to have taken a liking to you," Nyx said.

"Surprising, considering I've never been good with kids."

"Unicorn is big and strong! He's more fun to ride than Mama!" the little girl exclaimed as she clambered onto Jack's neck and wrapped her legs around it. She sat with her chin resting on the crown of his head, grasping his one full horn with a dainty hand.

"Well, you must have indeed caught her interest. Some days, she refuses to leave my person," Nyx explained with a small giggle. She turned around, massive black wings folding around her exotic body like a shroud of midnight.

And was she ever built! Jack could barely get over her shape, let alone her assets and face and gaze! She had broad, muscular shoulders and not a thick neck, but not so slender as the twins or Elassa. She was tall as well, easily an inch taller than he was.

Along with her broad shoulders, she had a chest even bigger than Elassa's by at least two cup sizes. They were literally as big as her head, and they looked as big as Anathane's the time she had remodeled herself for him during their first meeting. Swooping down, her body didn't make so much of an hourglass shape as he'd thought it would.

She held sort of a, gentle slope, from her vastly protruding chest to her wide, womanly hips and thick thighs. She was built like a fucking brick house. A real big, beautiful Amazon. And damn it was the look sexy as anything he'd seen before! God, he was already turned on simply by staring. Nyx looked back as he followed her down the hallway past the massive double doors, smiling gently.

"Well, it seems as if the rumors of your lust were not exaggerated, Jack," she remarked dryly as they continued to walk. For the first time, Jack suddenly realized that he was entirely naked, and his erection was sticking out in front of him. He flushed red with embarrassment and tried to cover himself up. Nyx turned around and unfurled her wings to reveal her shapely form once more to his hungry eyes.

He drank in her image like a starving bear does honey.

"Perhaps you would like to relieve yourself with my body?" she suggested, holding her arms out to either side like she was a servant to be commanded. Jack, rather embarrassedly, shook his head and brought his white wings to life behind him. Limarei clung to one and laughed merrily as Jack tried to gently shake her off. He covered up his front with the other.

"Um, no, I'm fine thank you. But, uh, what exactly are these rumors about me? Nobody really knows about me here, right? I mean, I've never been to a Sanctuary before." He tried to make sense of the situation, but he couldn't find a single reason why there would be rumors about him here of all places, in hell!

Again, Nyx gave him a soft smile that flustered him and aroused him more than ever. Nodding softly, she relaxed a bit and spread her wings out fully, arcing them as she stretched the leathery black skin to near transparency. He could see orange torchlight through them, like looking at a flashlight through one's hand. Though strangely, her wings had no veins to speak of.

"You possess four lovers from hell, do you not?"

"Yes, well, that's complicated. Anathane's not really..." he trailed off as her gaze hardened.

"You are bedding with four of them, then?" she asked, making it impossible for Jack to deny the apparent adultery that was going on under his roof.

"Yes."

"Your lust is renown in the Sanctuary of Salvation for being very powerful. You are a virile young incubus, to say the least. Anathane has spread tales of your abilities all across the four Sanctuaries."

"No, no that's not true. She...God damn that woman. How many people know about me?"

"At least one sanctuary is teeming with new, young succubi awaiting their own Jack Archer to take them to unknown heights of pleasure and undiscovered depths of love. In the Sanctuary of Deliverance, you are, as mortals say...every little girl's fantasy?" Nyx chuckled at the joke as Jack began to grow more and more disheartened.

"Anathane laid my entire sex life out for everyone to hear like it was some storybook?" he clenched his fists tightly and felt his blood begin to rise.

"She also released visions of such things to a select few thousand. I have them on record if you would like to revisit them. You seem...troubled?"

"How can I get her here?" he growled. Nyx raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Who?"

"Anathane. Where is she and how do I get her here?" he snarled, gritting his teeth as his claws cut into his palms.

"Anathane said that revealing your presence was-"

"Anathane!" Jack roared at the top of his lungs, steaming mad. Something inside of him was bursting at the seams. She'd shown his extremely emotional and personal life to thousands of complete strangers without any form of his consent of even one care for his feelings. He trembled with rare and raised his head. "Anath- mphf!"

Nyx grabbed his head and smothered him in her seemingly endless cleavage. So tight was her grip that he had to fight her for air. When he was finally able to breathe, he glared up at the succubus from between her breasts.

She shook her head and put a finger to her lips. He simmered for a moment, until he gave in and grabbed her breasts gently. She let go of his neck and smiled softly at him, as if she thought he was doing something cute. He frowned and Nyx raised her eyebrows.

"You must not let your emotions rule you. If you allow yourself to become angry, then your soul fire will burn brightly enough to be distinguishable even here. And you may continue if you wish. I don't mind being fondled by you."

"Fon...oh, sorry," he said embarrassedly. Jack released her and stood back up while trying to get Limarei off his wing. Nyx looked quite amused.

"I didn't say that I wanted you to stop."

"Um, well, while we're, uh, just talking here...how much did Anathane tell you guys? Did she reveal everything?"

"Let me put it this way. It's been twenty years since the first rumor about you began to circulate. Your lust is legendary," explained the charcoal-skinned succubus with a slight grin. Jack groaned.

"Auntie Anathane said you were a big one. Mama, is he a big one?" Limarei turned her head back to her mother, whose grin was widening visibly.

"He's a big one, Limarei." She directed her gaze toward him. "Anathane was right about that."

"Of course." Jack rolled his eyes as he spoke. Limarei dropped off his wings and began running down the long hallway with her arms out at her sides again, pretending to be a plane. Nyx bayed Jack follow as she walked after her daughter, curling her great wings around her body once more to hide herself away. Only this time, she left, very specifically, her ass clear for him to see.

At first, Jack didn't think she noticed, and followed her without trying to think too much about it, even though he was hard and horny already. But when she reached down and ran two fingers along her backside, he understood that she had left herself exposed for a reason.

Jack reached forward tentatively, wondering if this was going to turn out as he thought it would, or if she was just teasing him. He pressed his fingertips against her flesh, and a chill ran up her spine. There wasn't even a pause in her step, and she continued walking as if nothing had happened at all.

He gave it a squeeze and she tilted her head to the side.

"You say something?"

"Nothing at all," he purred. She shrugged and the massive doorway that lay before them began to open. He couldn't see beyond the room's entrance because it was far too dark for his mortal eyes to see. He took his hand back and Nyx slowed ever so slightly.

Limarei hugged his bony wing like a rope and crawled toward his head, grinning and giggling happily as he waved the white appendage up and down more out of need to squirm than to really try to throw her off.

He didn't feel comfortable with Nyx. It was like something in the back of his mind was nagging at him that she wasn't telling him everything, or that she was untrustworthy, or something of the like. He could feel something like an ulterior motive for taking him in, lurking just beneath her black skin. But if she had such thoughts, she kept them well hidden.

Her façade was impenetrable, and Jack doubted that even with prodding, that he could ever get out of her why she was doing this for him. As far as things went here in hell and the Sanctuaries, nobody did anything out of charity. They did it out of lust, duty, or the prospect personal gain.

"Thanatos, would you please reanimate these dead flames? We have a guest," Nyx said as she passed through the doorway.

"Of course, mother," replied an eerie, chilling voice. Jack was amazed as the darkness lifted as quickly as a match could be lit, and the room was bathed in a wash of orange light. The light revealed a structure of monolithic proportions standing beneath a ceiling of shadows, so high that not even the light reached its murky surface. The place must have been bigger than anything man could conceive, and impossibly build, for no structure of such enormity would have ever been able to stand on earth.

"Oh no," Limarei whispered. She dropped down behind his shoulder and trembled slightly, peeking around like she had seen something frightening.

"What?"

"This is Big Brother's room," she answered, warily scanning the room for the man.

"Thanatos?"

"Guest of my mother...you have brought a troublesome burden with you," came the eerie voice again, this time from right next to Jack's ear. The incubus jumped in surprise at the words and stepped back.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were so close, he explained embarrassedly to the man before him. Thanatos nodded slightly, but his grey eyes flared from beneath his dark hood. He stared at Jack for a long while before diverting his attention to his sister.

"Limarei. There is business to discuss with this...incubus." Thanatos extended his arm and a pale, almost paper-white hand came out of the robe's sleeve. He curled his fingers to signal he wanted her handed over to him. But the girl cowered in fear.

"I don't wanna go back to the other side of the ceiling! It's scary!" she shouted.

"It is not scary, Limarei. Now come here. You will only be in the way if you remain in his presence."

"No! I won't go!" she yelled fiercely. Jack saw Nyx walking toward them, and paled at the thought of her angry. If she was anything like Elassa...

"Thanatos, leave her be for now. She has her unicorn and he is perfectly content to enter your abode. Right Jack?" She looked at him as if he had no other choice.

"Uh, right," he answered timidly. Beneath Thanatos' hood, a large murky grin formed, and he swung his arm slowly toward the entrance to the massive building before them.

"This way, honored guest."

Thanatos led the way up a flight of obsidian steps toward the entrance to his impossibly large home. As they moved, Limarei became increasingly nervous and fidgety. Twice, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and held onto him like he was the only thing protecting her from her worst fears. Both times, it had been Thanatos' gaze that had inspired her fear.

When the four came upon a pair of obelisks lining the steps, they lit up with dim grey light and began to billow smoke from their bases. It seemed like some kind of overly dramatic ritual to Jack, and Limarei didn't like any part of it.

When he checked to see if Limarei was alright, (and she wasn't) he saw that the steps were entirely shrouded by thick smoke and the stuff was closing in like a huge curtain about to swallow him whole. He hurried up the steps to catch up to Thanatos and Nyx, but she he reached the top, they were nowhere to be found.

Above, the smoke was a roiling black miasma that leapt down in long tendrils, like weird ethereal tentacles that disappeared only seconds later. Jack felt like he was about to walk upon a haunted castle or something, like in some cheesy horror movie. And this one wasn't cheesy at all. It was the scariest fucking thing he'd even experienced.

Shaped leered at him through the smoke as he turned in all directions for some sign of familiarity. There were none. He was totally lost in this little realm of darkness, where the smoke and smog clotted together to form a veil of darkness to hide everything from him. Jack knelt down and took Limarei from his back. She clung to him for dear life, and shivered with fear. Her voice was meek and scared when she spoke.

"I wanna go back."

"I don't know which way is back. Hush now Limarei."

"I wanna go back! Mama! Mama!"

"Hush Limarei. Hush, calm down. Nyx! Nyx, are you there?" Jack received no answer but a slight giggle in the distance. Limarei began to cry against him, clawing at his chest with growing nails. Jack felt warmth growing against his chest and tried to lean back from Limarei. But she clung fast.

"Where are you Mama?" she whispered. Jack watched in horror as Limarei was enveloped in black smoke and dragged into the darkness. Her nails clawed at the cold stone floor and she screamed in terror. "Mama!"

"Limarei!" Jack roared. He leapt toward her and grasped her tiny fingers. She screamed again, and was then sucked into the darkness and shrouded by the thick fog. Jack got to his feet and ran toward her voice as she begged for her mother to save her, but he couldn't reach her. Whatever had her in its grasp, it was too fast for him to catch.

"Mama!"

Her voice was so far away that he could barely hear it.

"Nyx! Limarei is in trouble! Help her!" Jack yelled, running after the child's voice.

"I am well aware of that, sweet boy. Find your eyes and rear your head. See if you can find her then, sweet boy," she snickered. And Jack found that this was too much for him to handle. He stomped his foot, and the smoke parted around him. His fingers grew to claws and his teeth to fangs.

"Nyx..." he growled low in his throat. His forehead hurt and his eyes burned. "Nyx, you'd let this be done to your own daughter? How...how could you let this happen?" Jack felt something inside him building like air inside a balloon. Something like thunder rolled overhead and the smoke thinned considerably.

"If you want to do something about it, then find your eyes. Rear your head back and howl," she told him, laughing audibly. Jack's blood began to boil as his horns revealed themselves. He felt his eyes burn even more intensely and he put his hands over them to sooth the feeling.